“Cedric, Marlene,” he said, “I’d like you to meet my girlfriend, Bria.”
Cedric was tanned, polished, old-money.Marlene appeared elegant in a silver gown and black stole.
“So this is the vivacious woman you told me about,” Cedric said, shaking my hand.
“Yes, I couldn’t stay away,” Darius said.“Had to see my love over the holidays.”He bent over and kissed my temple, sending a brushfire shivering through me.
“How romantic,” Marlene said, placing her hand over her heart.
“That’s the idea,” Darius said, searing me with a look so feral and hungry, it could have melted my microphone stand.A blink later, it was gone, and he was back to suave smile and business charm.
The countdown for the lighting began, and Cedric and Marlene moved in closer with the crowd.Above us, sprigs of enchanted mistletoe floated overhead, and one drifted toward us.
The crowd chanted the final numbers for the countdown.Darius leaned closer to me.Countless twinkling lights burst to life on the tree.
The crowd cheered.The mistletoe settled right above our heads.
“Oh, wonderful,” I muttered.
“It’s perfect,” he murmured, his voice a husky rumble, as he bent his head down toward me.“You ready?”
I sucked in a breath and exhaled.“Yes,” I said, sounding breathless.
It seemed as if he moved in slow motion.My heartbeat zoomed to thunderous levels while I forgot to breathe.
When his mouth met mine, all the lights overhead tilted.His heat flooded through me—fire and smoke and something deeper, primal.My panther stilled, then purred with such satisfaction the sound vibrated through me.
A thousand years, or maybe just a second later, we broke apart, both of us breathing heavy.I stood upright, struggling for composure.The crowd’s applause echoed around me, until I snapped out of it and realized it was for the tree lighting, not our kiss.
Performance, I reminded myself.
“Convincing,” Darius said, his voice barely above a whisper.
Right.It was just an act.
“Dangerously so,” I agreed.
Deep inside, my panther purred without any hesitation.Mine.
CHAPTERSIX
DARIUS
After that kiss, I couldn’t think straight, especially with my dragon beating his wings in triumph.The softness of her lips, the warmth of her breath on my lips, the scent of her wrapped around me…
She’d walked over to sing by the Christmas tree, leaving me befuddled.
Get it together,I told him—and myself.My priority was to land a deal with Cedric, not woo a gorgeous panther who was now singing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” beside the Christmas tree.
What we’d spun last night about how I’d fallen for her in a jazz club in New Orleans seemed to play out in real time as I watched her sing.God, she was gorgeous.Completely irresistible in a red dress that clung to every mouthwatering curve.And her voice.Enchanting.It soared over the crowd as if she had the magic of flight.The way she sang, adding a hint of sauciness and sensuality in every note, wound its way under my skin as if she were indeed weaving a hypnotizing spell.
Mate, my dragon crooned.
You’re wrong,I told him.Look what happened with Louisa.She died.It hurt.I’m not going through that again.
But she’s our mate, he dissented.
I shook my head and studied her.Could that be true?She’d mentioned that we were both mistaken about that.How it had to be part of the spell that had made the faux snowflakes drift and glow.I’d have to ask her about that.
